













































LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 


UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 



















DIARY OF A DEAN. 


LONDON 


PRINTED BY LEVEY, ROBSON, AND FRANKLYN, 
Great New Street, Fetter Lane. 


DIARY OF A DEAN 


BEING AN ACCOUNT OF THE 

EXAMINATION OF SILBURY HILL, 


AND OF 


VARIOUS BARROWS AND OTHER EARTHWORKS ON THE 

DOWNS OF NORTH WILTS, 

OPENED AND INVESTIGATED IN THE MONTHS OF JULY AND AUGUST 1849. 


Sffilitb JUustratioiis. 


BY THE LATE 

/ 

JOHN MEREWETHER, DA). F.S.A. 

*9 

DEAN OF HEREFORD. ' 


“ Ducere sollicitae jucunda oblivia vitae.” 

Hok. 


LONDON: 

GEORGE BELL, 186 FLEET STREET. 


1851. 








__2jA IH-O 

■ r\lfi651 


ADVERTISEMENT. 


The following Diary is reprinted from the volume detailing 
the proceedings of the Archaeological Institute of Great Britain 
and Ireland, at Salisbury in 1849. In issuing it separately, 
the Publisher is fulfilling the wishes of the lamented Author, 
expressed to him a very short time before'his death. Dr. Mere- 
wether hoped that it might in that form attain a wider circu¬ 
lation, and by increasing general interest in the antiquities 
treated of, tend to promote their more careful local preser¬ 
vation. 

The Illustrations are from his own drawings, executed 
during his last illness. He himself regarded them as most un¬ 
pretending ; but the little volume may be looked upon as a 
legacy to his native County, whose antiquities he began in early 
life to study, and never ceased to estimate as of the highest 
National importance. 

G. B. 


Jnly 1851 . 




CONTENTS. 


Examination of Silbury Hill. 

Examination of Barrows and other Earthworks at Silbury 

Hill and Avebury. 

Antiquities found near Avebury. 


PAGE 

8 

18 

44 






THE 


EXAMINATION OF SILBURY HILL, 

IN JULY AND AUGUST 1849. 


Avebury, Silbury Hill, Wansdyke, and their adjacent 
downs, studded with tumuli and cairns and earthworks of 
endless variety and surpassing interest, were known to me 
from my earliest youth ; and so intimately associated in 
my memory have they been with those happy days, and 
the pleasure of then contemplating and investigating them, 
that it required no greater inducement than the intimation 
that I might be useful in examining the progress of the 
excavations at Silbury, on my way to Salisbury, to attend 
the meeting of the Archaeological Institute, to determine 
me at once to set off for that purpose. Accordingly, on 
the evening of July the 18th, I found myself safely de¬ 
posited at the Waggon and Horses Inn at Beckhampton; 
whence, having deposited my luggage and secured a rest¬ 
ing-place within sight of Silbury, I proceeded without de¬ 
lay to inspect the progress already made in its examina¬ 
tion, which had commenced on the 10th of July. Although, 
during my sojourn here, my attention was devoted at in¬ 
tervals to the antiquities of the neighbourhood, and not 
without success, during such times as the workmen were 
engaged in the tunnel, in which there was barely room for 
two persons to pass, I purpose to confine my remarks in 
this communication to Silbury alone, and to reserve my 
other discoveries for a subsequent paper. Before I enter 
into the hill itself, I will venture to detail some few par¬ 
ticulars which, although perhaps already known to many, 
may yet serve to make this record of what I observed 
(and in some respects I alone) more intelligible. 

The tumulus was originally formed upon the gradual 
slope of a hill, rising from north to south at an angle of 
about four degrees from its point of section with the hori¬ 
zontal base-line of the natural hill. The circumference 



10 


EXAMINATION OF SILBURY HILL. 


of the tumulus, after the removal for its formation of the 
before-mentioned natural hill on the east, north, and west 
sides to a very considerable extent, is 1550 feet; and it is 
remarkable, although I have not seen it noticed by for¬ 
mer writers, that the verge of the base is set round with 
sarsen^ stones, 3 or 4 feet in diameter, and at intervals of 
about 18 feet; of these, however, only eight are now visible, 
although others may be covered with the detritus of the 
sloping sides of the tumulus, and overgrown with turf. 
The tumulus rises at an angle of 32 degrees, is in its ver¬ 
tical measurement 125 feet high, and has on its summit 
a level area of about 100 feet in diameter, in which are 
still observable the remains of the shaft worked in 1777 
by the Duke of Northumberland and Colonel Drax, and 
the mounds of earth which the excavators had not taken 
the trouble to throw in. It is much to be regretted that 
no detailed account of these operations is upon record, and 
it is hardly credible that they could have been completed 
without some account of their progress and the discoveries 
effected, and perhaps even yet such documents may come 
to light.t On the south the original constructors of this 
stupendous mound left two narrow isthmuses of earth, con- 


* ‘ Sarsen’ is the name given by the in¬ 
habitants of this district to the fine com¬ 
pact white sandstones of which Avebury 
Temple, Stonehenge, the Cromlech at 
Clatford, and the Grey Wethers, are com¬ 
posed ; and of which there are tens of thou¬ 
sands still scattered over these hills and 
their valleys; some having evidently formed 
cistvaens, with the gallery of approach to 
the chamber, some cromlechs, some ave¬ 
nues of approach to consecrated spots, 
some circles round the sepulchral deposits, 
some lines of demarcation, few of which 
are known as they deserve to be, and all, 
alas, are annually reduced in their num¬ 
ber by the appropriation of them to the 
purposes of building. The stone for the 
new railway-bridge at Windsor is taken 
from Clatford Bottom. The cromlech 
there I recollect when it stood in the 
midst of the Valley of Stones ; now it is 
surrounded by a field of turnips. 

t The following are statements made by 
two old men as to the former examination 
of Silbury Hill: 

Richard Maskelyn, of Beckhampton, 
aged eighty, has often heard his father tell 
of the miners out of Cornwall that cut in¬ 
to Silbury Hill; they went, as he heard, 


down to the bottom, and they found “ a 
man.’' 

John Blake, of Avebury, aged ninety-five 
years, states that he recollects when the 
miners from Cornwall dug into Silbury 
Hill; it was when he was keeping com¬ 
pany with his first wife, and was about 
twenty years of age. He went with her 
to see the place, and they cut her gown. 
They went down to the bottom, and found 
a man — i. c. a skeleton, in the phraseo¬ 
logy of the Wiltshire Downs, where the 
flint-diggers are constantly in the habit of 
finding skeletons, both in the barrows and 
frequently on the verge or slope of them, 
as well as in the plain down, unmarked by 
any irregularity of surface. These two old 
men, therefore, may have been led to in¬ 
fer what was expected, and to declare that 
“a man” was found; though such asser¬ 
tion indicates rather what they would deem 
likely than the positive fact. 

I subjoin the only record of this ope¬ 
ration known, extracted from Douglas’s 
Nenia Britannica, 1793, p. 161 : 

“ The great hill of Silbury, generally 
considered as a barrow, was opened by 
the direction of the late Duke of North¬ 
umberland and Colonel Drax, under the 



EXAMINATION OF SILBURY HILL. 


11 


necting it with the original hill, about 20 feet below its sum¬ 
mit, on the north side of the London and Bath road, and 
about 19 feet above the (geometrical) base of the tumulus. 
From the western isthmus the tunnel was commenced. The 
first 7*5 feet were cut through the natural and compact bed 
of chalk—the structure of the original hill; but at that dis¬ 
tance the upper line of the tunnel cut into the surface of the 
original hill, which was clearly marked by the vegetable 
mould, and upon that by a layer of bluish clay about 2 inches 
thick, very soft and tenacious, which represented evidently 
the decayed and compressed turf and grass on the former 
surface of the hill; above this was the brownish earthy, 
chalky rubble, the artificial components of the mound dif¬ 
fering from that nearer to the centre, as that was piled 
up from a moist, this from a higher and drier situation. 
The workmen were continually progressing day and night, 
as each of the three gangs worked eight hours, three men 
only at a time having room to excavate, fill and wheel the 
barrows. From the points of junction of the tunnel in the 
natural chalk with the line of the surface of the original 
hill, they followed that line as their guide, keeping it 
about 2 feet below the ceiling of the tunnel; inasmuch 
as there could be little doubt that whatever deposit might 
be found would be either on the surface of the original 
ground near the centre, or in a cist formed immediately 
below that line. 

On my first visit they had advanced about 40 yards ; 
when at 30 yards, they found in the artificial rubble, im¬ 
mediately above the ground-line, a portion of the tine of 
a stag’s antler of the red deer species. Very little difier- 
ence in the appearance of the walls of the tunnel had as 
yet been discernible, when the time came (on Monday 


supposition of its being a place of sepul¬ 
ture. Miners from Cornwall were em¬ 
ployed, and great labour bestowed upon 
it. The only relic found at the bottom, 
and which Colonel Drax shewed me, was 
a thin slip of oak-wood : by burning the 
end of it in a wax-taper we proved it not 
to be whalebone, which had been so re¬ 
ported. The smell of vegetable substance 
soon convinced the Colonel of his mistake. 
He had a fancy that this hill was raised 
over a Druid oak, and he thought the re¬ 
mains of it were discovered in the exca¬ 
vation ; there was, however, no reason for 


considering it to have been a place of se¬ 
pulture by the digging into it. The bit 
of a bridle discovered by Stukeley, and 
his assertion of a monarch being buried 
there, has only the pleasure of concep¬ 
tion to recommend it. It is not likely 
the monarch would have been buried near 
its surface, when such an immense mound 
of earth had been raised for the purpose; 
and the time in raising it would not agree 
with the nature of a funeral obsequy, 
which must require a greater degree of 
expedition.” 



12 


EXAMINATION OF SILBURY HILL. 


evening the 23d) for me to proceed to Salisbury. Having 
taken a last inspection on my way, I suggested that it 
would be desirable that the workmen should stop when 
they reached within two yards of the centre, under the 
apprehension that in case they should break into a cist, 
or discover any deposit, there might be no person present 
to describe and record the particulars. Whilst at Salis¬ 
bury the specimens of new features in the component parts 
of the tumulus were sent for inspection. The thin com¬ 
pressed line of clay, formerly grass, could be traced con¬ 
tinuously throughout the tunnel, and the vegetable mould 
below it varying in its depth occasionally, and sometimes 
considerably; but at about 30 or 40 feet from the centre 
a very marked difference appeared. Instead of the rubbly 
chalk forming the artificial substance of the hill, the thin 
grass-line was covered with a black peaty substance, com¬ 
posed of sods of turf piled together, containing great quan¬ 
tities of moss still in a state of comparative freshness, and 
which had evidently been taken from the excavated area 
on the east, west, and north sides of the tumulus, on the 
borders of which a small rivulet runs—a tributary to the 
Kennett, — which I have myself seen overflowing almost 
the whole of the excavated area at the back of the hill, 
and which probably was wont to do so before that work 
was effected; not, of course, to so great extent, but suf¬ 
ficiently to produce the moss now perceptible in the sods 
derived from that locality, still retaining its colour and 
texture, and to deposit amongst them the freshwater 
shells which were interspersed on its surface, and are 
still preserved in most remarkable freshness and transpa¬ 
rency. Above and about this layer was a dense accumu¬ 
lation of black earth, emitting a peculiar smell, in which 
were embedded fragments of small branches of bushes, 
which in many instances, retaining their shape, had been 
transformed into a substance of beautiful cobalt-coloured 
blue, which was also in great quantity dispersed in small 
knobs throughout the layer of this black substance. At 
about this spot caudal vertebrae of the ox, or perhaps red 
deer, and a very large tooth of the same animal, were 
carried out in the wheelbarrows, so that the exact spots 
in which they had rested were not known. The follow¬ 
ing general analysis of these substances was obtained by 


13 


EXAMINATION OF SILBURY HILL. 

the kindness of a young gentleman at Mr. Squarey’s of 
Salisbury, and may serve to shew their chemical cha¬ 
racter :—1st. The substance nearest the line of original 
surface of the hill; iron, sulphuric acid, lime, carbonates, 
earthy and organic matters, alumina. 2d. That some¬ 
what higher up in position and of compact black texture : 
Iron, carbonic acid, lime, sulphates, alumina, phosphates. 
Over these the artificial rubble of the hill had assumed a 
darker colour, and contained on analysis much the same 
components as No. 2 ; as well as those portions below, 
from the percolation of water saturated with the qualities 
of the substance above. I must not omit to state that in 
many places within this range from the centre, on the sur¬ 
face of the original hill, were found fragments of a sort of 
string, of two strands, each twisted, composed of (as it 
seemed) grass, and about the size of whipcord. Insects, 
especially beetles, and fragments of charcoal, were con¬ 
stantly observable. 

On Tuesday morning, the 31st, having reached Marl¬ 
borough from Salisbury on the Monday night, I returned 
to Silbury, visiting on our way the Cromlech at Clatford 
Bottom, the Roman road on Overton Hill, and the ter¬ 
mination (that which had been) of the South-eastern 
Avenue of Avebury, on Hacpen Hill, with its neighbour¬ 
ing tumuli, and then the eight remaining detached stones 
of the avenue on the road from Kennett to Avebury, where 
I remember six to have stood in their relative positions 
opposite to each other. 

One line 1 must devote to the memory of one of the 
most agreeable weeks I ever recollect to have spent. The 
little party of good and approved archseologists who did 
me the honour to allow me to rank as their comrade will, 
I am sure, bear testimony to the description I have given 
of that happy week ; and I shall never forget the manifest 
indications of regret when the time came for us to part— 
I confess by none felt more acutely than myself, the one 
left behind. 

On our arrival at Silbury, which my companions had 
not before seen,—after due admiration of its imposing and 
mysterious grandeur,—we inspected the interior, when it 
appeared that the workmen had penetrated to the extent 
of 88 yards, in effect l6 yards beyond the centre of the 



14 


EXAMINATION OF SILBURY HILL. 


tumulus. Nothing had been discovered, excepting the 
peculiar condition of the material of which the hill was 
composed about its centre, or the nucleus from which its 
fabricators first commenced the piling of it up. This day 
was greatly occupied by the numerous visitors who fiocked 
from Salisbury and other quarters ; and as we could do lit¬ 
tle at Silbury, we betook ourselves to inspect Avebury, and 
subsequently to open some neighbouring barrows. There 
was, however, one very remarkable circumstance which the 
workmen related, namely, that when they were digging 
and picking, at about 7^ yards in, the earth above their 
heads sounded very hollow, almost like a drum; and on 
experimenting the effect of vigorous blows of the pick-axe 
at that spot, it was impossible not to be impressed with the 
idea that there must be a cavity above. It was therefore 
resolved that the men should cut down the roof from some 
8 or 10 yards back, so as to raise the roof of the tunnel at 
the centre 6 or 8 feet or more, the earth cut from the 
roof forming the fioor on an inclined plane. Great was 
our disappointment, when we reached the point where our 
grand discovery was expected, to find that our operations 
had completely silenced the delusive sound, and that all 
was dense and compact as below. There was, however, a 
very important feature brought to view in this excavation, 
namely, a succession of layers of the earth one above the 
other at the end of the tunnel, and slightly curved down¬ 
wards at each side. This operation had brought us to 
Saturday night ; and on that day our most agreeable 
party had taken their leave, whilst I was left alone, with 
the responsibility of observing the works, still with some 
hope that even yet discoveries might be made which would 
help to clear up the mystery in which this noble monument 
of our early ancestors is shrouded. 

I have omitted to state, what really deserves to be re¬ 
corded, that on the Wednesday in this memorable week 
a very large assemblage of the neighbouring gentry were 
seen congregated on the embankment to the east of Sil¬ 
bury Hill, where they listened with much interest and 
attention to such comments as I was able to make on the 
early history and usages of the Britons, especially as to 
their sepulchral remains in that neighbourhood; and sub¬ 
sequently were instructed and highly gratified by an ad- 


EXAMINATION OF SILBURY HILL. 


15 


dress, in his usual style of elegance and perspicuity, on the 
subsequent history and usages of the Anglo-Saxons, whose 
adopted work of Wansdyke was within their sight, by Mr. 
Kemble. The information conveyed this day to those who 
possess in their hills and on their estates the precious and 
most interesting relics of bygone times in this singularly 
curious neighbourhood will, I believe, be not a little in¬ 
fluential in promoting and directing a juster appreciation 
and stricter guardianship of the treasures which so fre¬ 
quently are brought to light by the employh of the gentle¬ 
men who farm this county of antiquities, and who are not 
less remarkable for their high respectability and intelli¬ 
gence, than they are, as I can testify, for their exceeding 
kindness. 

But to return to Silbury. Our statement has carried 
us down to the night of Saturday the 4th of August. On 
the following Monday morning I found that Mr. Bland- 
ford, the engineer who had directed the work, consider¬ 
ing that he had accomplished all that he undertook in his 
contract with the Institute, had desired the men not to 
proceed further under his responsibility. I was therefore 
under the necessity of taking on myself to direct their 
progress, and they accordingly recommenced their labours 
the same day, whilst I communicated with the Institute on 
the present state of things. At all events, it was impos¬ 
sible to allow the investigation to stop short, when perhaps 
we were within a few feet of the objects of our search. 
Nothing could be more evident than the existence of the 
primary heaping up of the mound, through the centre of 
which, or very nearly so, the elevated tunnel was cut. At 
the floor of this was traceable the line of the original turf 
of the natural hill, and it was clear to demonstration that 
this had not been cut through. No cist, therefore, had 
been found below that line in any part yet examined. 
What might exist within the range of the conical heaping 
up of the earth, which was on all sides so distinctly marked, 
was yet to be proved. I therefore directed that a chamber 
should be cut at right angles with the tunnel on the right 
hand, following the dip of the primary heap. In this 
many sarsen stones were discovered, some of them placed 
with their concave surface downwards, favouring the line 
of the heap, as is frequently seen in small barrows, and 


16 


EXAMINATION OF SILBURY HILL. 


casing, as it were, the mound. On the top of some of 
these were observed fragments of bone, and small sticks, 
as of bushes, and I am strongly disposed to think of 7ms- 
tletoe, and two or three pieces of the ribs either of the ox 
or red deer, in a sound and unusually compact state, and 
also the tine of a stag’s antler in the same condition. This 
being the second instance in which this portion of the stag’s 
horn has been found in these operations, it is not impro¬ 
bable that it may have been specially regarded. This first 
chamber having been excavated as far back as the line 
marking the conical heaping of the earth extended, a 
similar one was formed on the right-hand side of the tun¬ 
nel nearer the entrance, leaving so much of the earth 
between as was necessary to support the roof, with similar 
results; and on the opposite side a passage was cut at 
right angles with the tunnel extending three yards, and 
this at the extremity was turned to the left, in consequence 
of the peculiar compactness and blackness of the earth, 
which also appeared to dip more than elsewhere towards 
the west. This having been worked as far as seemed 
necessary, another cutting was commenced on the opposite 
side northward, and following the curve of the heaping up 
of the central cone. In all of these the sarsen stones were 
similarly disposed; but after cutting in this direction 
about 3 yards, the workmen came to an upright seam in 
the hill, and found before them no longer the dense black 
concrete, but loose unconnected chalk, evidently the filling- 
in of the shaft, 5 feet wide by 4 feet 6, sunk from the 
summit of the hill in 1777 - 

These operations had occupied until Wednesday the 
15th of August, the last day of my most enjoyable sojourn 
in these mysterious regions, which I left with much re¬ 
gret. The subsequent investigations were carried on 
under the auspices of the Rev. J. Bathurst Deane; and 
it may, perhaps, be satisfactory to him to have found 
that Silbury Hill, so far as is yet known, and as he had 
declared, was not a sepulchral tumulus. One thing is 
manifest, that the examiners of 1777 did not hit the ac¬ 
tual centre of the tumulus, whilst we have excavated its 
very core. It is not likely, therefore, that the version 
given of their discoveries by the ancients Blake and Mas- 
kelyn, viz, that “ they found a man,” is correct. Whether 


EXAMINATION OF SILBURY HILL. 


17 

the piling up of the sods, and the peculiar and marked 
effects with which that part of the hill is distinguished 
from the rest, and the layer of sarsen stones, should lead 
to any future inquiry,—for it is possible that this central 
and conical heap might have been the platform, as it were, 
on the apex of which the deposit was placed before the 
remainder of the hill was raised,—will much depend on the 
observations made subsequently to my departure. If no¬ 
thing else has been achieved, a more general knowledge of 
these secluded but most magnificent national antiquities has 
been effected. Many have wondered at Avebury and Sil- 
bury—have seen for themselves the Eoman road deflecting 
to the right to avoid Silbury—have observed the same 
road cutting down the high bank of the Wansdyke, and 
adopting its line, who before had no notion that England 
possessed such relics. But more than this, an anxious 
desire for further information, a sedulous care for the pre¬ 
servation of these and other antiquities of the neighbour¬ 
hood, continually brought to light, has been implanted in 
the neighbourhood, in proprietors and occupiers, and even 
in the labourers and flint-diggers, the frequent discoverers 
of exquisite remains. And whilst my friend Mr. George 
Brown of Avebury has engaged that he will take care, 
and his sons after him, that not a stone at Avebury shall 
again be injured or removed, I feel confident that a ge¬ 
neral spirit of antiquarian conservatism has been widely 
and effectually instilled, from which the cause of archseo- 
logy and our Institute will reap much advantage. 

J. M. 


c 



DIARY OF THE EXAMINATION OF BARROWS 
AND OTHER EARTHWORKS 


IN THE 

NEIGHBOURHOOD OF SILBURY HILL AND AVEBURY, WILTS, 

IN JULY AND AUGUST 1849. 


July _Keached the way-side inn, the “Waggon 

and Horses,” at Beckhampton, in Wiltshire, subsequently 
yclept by our party the Archaeological Hotel; proceeded to 
inspect tunnel at Silbury Hill, which had then penetrated 
30 yards ; went to Avebury, after an interval of 30 years; 
since my last examination missed several stones from thence 
and from the Kennet Avenue. 

\9th .—This day employed in visits to the tunnel and 
in obtaining leave to open barrows, successfully and with¬ 
out loss of time, through the aid of Mr. George Brown, 
and by the kindness of others in the neighbourhood from 
time to time; made a circuit over the downs east of. Ave¬ 
bury, Bye Hill Down, and Hacpen, to select barrows for 
examination. The breaking up of the land for tillage 
made it very difficult to recognise the exact spots where 
I had formerly opened some, and observed others. 

^Otlu —Opened a flat barrow (No. 1) of about ^25 yards 
from skirt to skirt, and 5 feet from the apex to the level 
of the surrounding down, situated in the centre of the flat 
down about a mile and a quarter from Avebury, and at 
half a mile’s distance from any other barrow. At the 
centre, 18 inches below the surface, were the fragments 
of a coarse unornamented vase, containing the hones of a 
child which had cut its first teeth, but had not changed 
them. In the chalk rubble were numerous pieces of deer’s 
ribs. 2 ft. 6 in. from the surface was a skeleton of an 
adult (A); the thigh-bones measured 14i inches, the whole 




EroirL.tlie same Barrow 
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BARROWS, ETC. NEAR SILBURY. 


19 


frame compressed, tlie right hand turned hack under the 
wrist, the left laid across the face, and the bones of the 
wrist and forearm between the upper and lower jaws ; 
the skull fractured into minute portions. The crouched 
posture of the skeleton, the rudeness of the vase with the 
hones of the child, the flat form and insulated position of 
the barrow, assign it to the earliest period of sepulture. 
The molar teeth were much worn, but were evidently those 
of a young person. 

No. 2, the first of a range of five large barrows in the 
rising ground to the north of the last, nearly in a line, a 
mile and a half north-east of Avebury. These differ in 
form, 2 and 3 being of the bowl-shape, the others of the 
more elegant bell-shape, as described by Sir 11. C. Moare 
in his Ancient Wilts. Although the second and third of 
this range were not opened until the 10th and 11th of 
August, I shall describe their produce with the others as 
belonging to a separate class. After a laborious excava¬ 
tion of the first (No. 2), from the apex to a depth of 10 
feet, until we came to the natural chalk through a thin 
layer, at about 9 feet ,—u e. about the level of the surround¬ 
ing ground,—of black mould composed of burnt wood, we 
were obliged to give up the hope of any marked discoveries 
here. The earth throughout was peculiarly moist, and pro¬ 
bably indicated that this barrow had been examined before ; 
there were, however, many fragments of the usual sort of 
bones and teeth and charred wood. 

No. 3 (August 10th). Somewhat smaller in dimensions 
than the others. Large fragments of bone, teeth, burnt 
wood; at about 8 feet deep a cist, 18 inches diameter, 
formed in the natural chalk bed, containing burnt human 
bones and two small pieces (B) of bronze; (C) a smooth 
stone tapering towards one end, which had been broken 
off—it may have been a spear-head, and a rather large 
flint arrow-head (D), were discovered in the progress of 
the excavation, as well as a small one of iron (E). 

No. 4 (August 11th). At a depth of about 2 ft. 6 in, 
a considerable fragment of a large coarse urn was found, 
ornamented with plain hatched lines round the top (F). At 
the depth of 5 feet, a cist, formed as usual in the chalk, 
was discovered ; this was 2 ft. 6 in. in diameter, the same 
in depth ; it contained in fragments, hut as it had been 


20 


EXAMINATION OF BARROWS 


originally deposited, in the centre, a large plain nrn filled 
with burnt human hones ; the urn was 13 inches high (G). 
The next, a very large barrow, had previously been opened. 

No. 5. This barrow, the last of the five eastward, did 
not produce in course of its excavation the ordinary quan¬ 
tity of fragments of bone, teeth, or pottery, but was un¬ 
usually compact and close in its materials ; at about 7 f^et 
deep,—the level of the adjacent down,—we came to a cist 
formed in the natural chalk, filled with burnt human bones, 
the produce apparently of more than one body. This cist 
was the largest of those I have met with of this kind ; 
but there was no urn, nor any fragment of pottery, to indi¬ 
cate that the bones had been deposited otherwise than 
they were found,—they were covered with the black sub¬ 
stance like pounded charcoal. 

^Ist, — Whilst the men were commencinof their work 
at the large barrows on the preceding day, a shepherd 
stated that one of the boys had told him that he had 
“hooked” up out of a little barrow on Bye Down Hill a 
crock, but he knocked it to bits with the stick. On 
visiting the spot, about a mile north-east, it appeared to 
be a very small barrow, without any trench round it, and 
very little elevated; the turf on this part of the down is 
much broken. At the top of the barrow were evidently 
the remains of an urn, of a pottery apparently more com¬ 
pact than those recently discovered ; and from the holes in 
the turf, in different directions, various fragments might be 
collected (H). Almost at the verge of the barrow was 
a trackway, having a trench on either side ; but it was not 
easy to trace it for more than two miles, in consequence of 
the cultivation of the hills ; it runs nearly east and west; 
traversing in the easterly direction from this spot the down 
called “ Temple” Down, on which, near its course, is a hut 
designated by the grandiloquent title of “ Glorian.”* 

No. 6. This barrow, on being opened, was found to con¬ 
tain at the depth of 2 feet, rather below the level of the 
surrounding ground, an oval cist formed in the chalk, about 
2 feet by H, and 2 feet deep, containing, with burnt hu¬ 
man bones, a great quantity of black sooty dust, with 
which the cist was quite filled up ; numerous fragments 

* “Gloria Tanaris.” as suggested by | the site, as connected with the worship of 
Mr Bow es, from the possil)le sanctity of l that deity. 


AND EARTHWORKS NEAR SILBURY. ' 

of bones, teeth of deer, and pottery, were interspersed in 
the earth forming the nioand. It should not be overlooked, 
that at about ^OO yards to the south of this spot consider¬ 
able quantities of flints had been dug ; these are obtained 
l3y taking off sods of turf, and the flints are generally found 
immediately below the brown or vegetable soil in those 
places where the vein of flints extends : in this process 
frequent discoveries are made of skeletons, &c. After the 
flints are extracted, they are piled up in heaps, and the turf 
is replaced; in looking over these heaps, a fragment of 
good Samian ware (I) made its appearance. 1 think it is 
remarked bv Sir K. C. Hoare, in his Ancient Wilts, that 
he met with no lioman remains in connexion with bar- 
rows on the north of the London and Bath road, or to 
the north of Wansdyke ; if so, this day’s discoveries, which 
I am about to relate, may be considered to be singularly 
fortunate. On the brow of this hill, some 100 yards lower 
, than the barrow just described, and towards the west, are 
four barrows of considerable size, but of the flat form, ex¬ 
cept the second, which is a pond barrow. The first of 
these had evidently been previously opened. 

No. 7- I commenced on the pond barrow, by sinking a 
circular hole of 5 or 6 feet diameter in the centre. The 
usual indications of fragments of bones of animals, with bits 
of charcoal and broken pottery, were observable here, but 
it was clear that no interment had taken place; and it is 
very difficult to imagine what could have been the inten¬ 
tion of this sort of earthwork, on which considerable atten¬ 
tion to the exactitude of the circle, the regularity of the 
surrounding mound, and the dip of the interior space, had 
manifestly been devoted. 

No. 8. The next barrow was one of considerable inte¬ 
rest, as on the skirts of it the gentleman who farms this 
district, Mr. Kemm, had himself found bones and pottery 
covered over with convex sarsen stones of about 18 inches 
or ^ feet each in diameter. -Fragments of a rude thick pot¬ 
tery were discernible over the surface of the ground, and 
on opening the centre there appeared four distinct layers 
of sarsen stones, ranging with the form of the barrow ; 
below which, at the depth of about .8 ft. 6 in., was a circu¬ 
lar cist, filled much as that in No. (i, witli burnt human 
bones and the black charcoal dust, but without any urn. 


22 


EXAMINATION OF BARROWS 


The next barrow (No. 9)» the most southern of this group, 

1 had reserved, like the others below, for the examination of 
some of our friends, whom I hoped to prevail on to return 
with me from Salisbury ; but in order to declare its con¬ 
tents with those to which it belongs, I will describe it here, 
although it was not opened till the 14th of August. It was 
of about the same size as the barrow adjoining, but not 
similarly constructed. Several pieces of thick coarse pottery 
were exhumed, hut not large enough to shew the form or 
size of the urn to which it belonged ; one piece had an un¬ 
usual embossed pattern upon it (J). At a little more than 

2 feet deep, a cist of somewhat irregular form was opened, 
containing, as in the last, the black cbarcoal-like substance 
and burnt bones. A little to the south, below this, the 
pickaxe struck against a large stone, which, on being un¬ 
covered, proved to be a large flat sarsen stone, placed over a 
cist filled with the same sort of contents; it was about 3 ft. 
6 in. from the top of the barrow, and was itself 3 ft. deep, 
containing, therefore, an unusual quantity of burnt bones. 

No. 10. Late in the day, we commenced operations on 
an insulated flat barrow, not far distant from No. 1 ; per¬ 
haps equidistant from that and No. 5, half a mile eastward. 
It was of such slight elevation as to be hardly perceptible 
to any but a practised observer, in the monotonous range 
of the flat down ; but however insignificant in appearance, 
it disclosed contents of singular interest and rarity. On 
removing the turf, the quantity of pottery thrown up with 
the earth was most unusual—all in fragments, with the 
exception of one portion, which had belonged to an urn of 
the rude and coarse kind, and of large dimensions, but 
even this of better texture. All bore evident indications 
of improvement in manufacture ; they were mostly turned 
on the lathe, and had undergone the process of kiln-bak¬ 
ing (K). At a depth not exceeding 18 inches, the fragments 
of the large vase above mentioned were found, but not in 
the centre ; below them, and covered with flat and some¬ 
what convex sarsen stones, were two very small and shallow 
cists, containing a few burnt bones. In various parts of 
the barrow iron nails were collected of very good form ; and 
a little more to the side, in the south-east direction, a small 
brass Koman coin was discovered. This led to greater 
vigilance; and its novelty greatly excited the interest of 


AND EARTHWORKS NEAR SILBURY. 


23 


the bystanders of the labouring class, who had on many 
occasions shewn a disposition to watch our proceedings, 
under the impression, which in all quarters possesses them 
—to my cost I know it, in some cases to the destruction of 
antiquarian treasure—that such excavations are made for 
the purpose of finding money. I must do my friends of 
the Avebury district justice in saying, that their quickness 
of sight in finding these coins, which were mostly detected 
immediately below the turf, could not be surpassed; whilst 
they seemed to manifest a pleasure, after a moment’s con¬ 
templation and examination of the prize, in handing it over 
to me, with great satisfaction at the increasing number— 
one of the youths exclaiming, “ Well, I’m bless’d if they 
bain’t all as one as though they wur sowed;” for on the 
whole, after the search of the succeeding Monday, they 
amounted to no less than 84. On the evenintr of this 

O 

day I proceeded to join the congress of the Archaeological 
Institute at Salisbury. This last barrow was evidently 
the work of Eomano-Britons, who had profited by the in¬ 
struction in the arts which had been introduced by their 
fierce but more civilised invaders; and it indicates, what I 
think others also of earlier age demonstrate, namely, that 
the same barrow was again and again used for the purposes 
of sepulture, both by those of the same generation — by 
whom they may have been regarded as a sort of family 
burial-places—and by others of subsequent date. My re¬ 
searches in the last three days had been specially success¬ 
ful. I had found instances of the earliest mode of British 
sepulture, with the crouched and unburnt skeleton, and its 
rude unbaked urn ; then the first indication of a change 
of custom in this essential particular, mostly the last to be 
altered,—interment by cremation, derived from the Homan 
conquerors, whilst the tumulus was retained ; and then a 
still further innovation,—the deposit of all kinds of broken 
pottery, iron nails (not belonging to any box or cist, for 
they were dispersed in every part of the barrow), as well as 
a considerable number of coins, some of which, bearing the 
image and superscription of Constantine and Constans, 
carry us down to the middle of the fourth century. Let 
me add, lest I forget to make the remark, that the conver¬ 
sations I have held with the husbandmen, flint-diggers, and 
others, whose lives have been mostly spent in agricultural 




EXAMINATION OF BARROWS 


"24 

operations on these downs, where they have found number¬ 
less skeletons and other remains on the plain downs, and 
far from any barrows, have led me to this conviction, that 
the barrows should be considered as the resting-places of 
the mighty dead,—the chiefs of name, men of renown in 
their generations ; whilst the ol the ignohile vulgus, 

were consigned to mother earth just as they fell, to share 
at once the oblivion which was but postponed for a brief 
period to their harrowed chieftains, and in which both 
chieftain and vassal now so equally participate. 

After the Salisbury meeting, a large party started to 
inspect Silbury Hill and its interesting neighbourhood, on 
Tuesday, July the 31st; whilst a few, reaching Marlborough 
the night before, were ready at an early hour to proceed to 
the spot. These choice spirits I had the honour to con¬ 
duct to the noble Cromlech at Clatford (L), and the other 
objects so worthy of notice en route^ as already mentioned 
in a former page. We had ample time not only to examine 
Silbury, but to lay in, with due regard to the effects of the 
pure air of these delightful hungrifying hills, an ample 
preservative from the well-prepared table of the Misses 
Sloper, at the Waggon and Horses Inn, from this day de¬ 
nominated by us the Archaeological Hotel; not forgetting 
an important article here to be obtained in perfection, and 
not by possibility to be surpassed either by the metheglin 
of old, or by the most approved and long-renowned “ cwrw 
dha” itself. Our Salisbury friends not having arrived—for 
they were the sufferers in one of those disasters which seem 
to be inevitable concomitants in all such expeditions, first or 
last, their coach having broken down five miles from the end 
of their journey, thus regaling th^m with somewhat more of 
the refreshing breezes and undulatory prospects of the hills 
and dales of Wilts than they desired—we, more favoured, 
were constrained to proceed without them to inspect the 
stupendous remains at Avebury—the area of which within 
the circular trench and mound, which is on the outside of 
the trench, contains 28 acres—and to mourn over the fallen 
and prostrate giants, with the few of their comrades remain¬ 
ing erect, still marking the range of the circles, which once 
enforced the adoration of a nation, as it is impossible even 
now that they should not impart to the beholder sentiments 
of veneration. A melancholy admiration of the zeal even 


AND EARTHWORKS NEAR SILBURY. 




of erring and uncivilised barbarians—a zeal, which could 
combine the physical force of a whole people to raise such 
a temple, is surely permissible in this place ; whilst our own 
feelings of gratitude for the mercies of a sure revelation, 
and the privileges of a pure faith, can hardly be divested 
of a blush at the contemplation of such advantages as we 
enjoy, yet of which our zeal for the appropriate temples of 
the known God, the Most High, does not bespeak us always 
equally, much less adequately, sensible! 

It may be deemed no unprofitable appropriation of our 
space and time, to give a brief statement of the number of 
stones originally composing this magnificent temple, what 
Dr. Stukeley observed, and what we have found there. 

The original outer circle was formed of 100 stones; 
within this were two smaller circles, not concentric, of 
(each) 30 stones; within each of these a smaller concen¬ 
tric circle, each of 12 stones; in the centre of the north¬ 
ern inner circle were 3 stones ; in the centre of the south¬ 
ern inner circle 1 stone. 

Besides these, each avenue was composed of 200 stones, 
terminating towards the east on Hacpen Hill, in a double 
oval, the outer containing 40 stones, the inner 18 stones ; 
in the western range were 2 extra stones about half way, 
forming as it were a recess ; and 1 at the termination. 

Dr. Stukeley intimates that, in 1723, of the great outer 
circle there were only 18 stones erect; prostrate 21 ; in¬ 
cluding 3 broken off at the ground. Of the northern 
circle 3 erect, 9 prostrate; of the inner circle *2 erect, 5 
prostrate ; in the cove, or centre, 2 erect; of the southern 
circle 4 erect, 9 prostrate; of the inner circle 1 erect; in 
the centre none. 

Dr. Stukeley adds, that the hollows in the ground,where 
many of the stones had stood were visible; as is still the 
case in some instances of more recent removal. 

The number of stones in the outer circle at present 
erect is 7, prostrate 5 ; of one or two of these the stumps 
only remain, the rest having been broken olF. Of the stones 
of the southern circle 2 only remain erect, 3 prostrate; none 
of its inner circle. Of the stones of the northern circle 3 
remain erect, 1 prostrate ; of its inner circle 2 prostrate; of 
the central cove 2 erect, and these are the tallest of all. 

The stones in the avenues are sadly diminished in 




EXAMINATION OF BARROWS 


number, even since I first saw them ; especially towards 
Kennett, the most perfect part; and I think there may be 
in all about 9 or 10 still standing, so scattered as to give 
the original curve of its course. In the western avenue 
there are only the two extra stones standing, which I have 
already mentioned. It is some comfort to know that the 
present owner of the circle and the western avenue, Mr. 
George Brown, will not allow a single stone to be defaced 
or removed; and he has been the means, in time past also, 
of preserving them. The visit of the Archseologists in 
1849 has contributed not a little to increase the feeling 
of regard for these venerable relics; a spirit of conserva¬ 
tism has been instilled into the breasts of all, and, what 
is not a little important, of the young, those in particular 
who will eventually have the power of guarding these an¬ 
tiquarian treasures. The Christian temple, standing close 
upon the mound of the ancient Heathen fane, was not de¬ 
prived of the investigation and approval it deserves. Its 
exterior appearance gives it a much more modern rank 
than it claims in reality ; its tower, aisles, and chancel, 
are late decorated; the doorway in the porch is Nor¬ 
man, of extremely good character; and the porch is very 
remarkable for its early character in the same style. The 
piers and arches, till within a few years, were also Nor¬ 
man, and portions of the shafts and capitals still project 
from the eastern and western walls ; these arches were 
taken out, and loftier piers, with pointed arches, intro¬ 
duced, in brder to obtain more light. There is the front 
of a very beautiful rood-loft elevated above the chancel 
arch, retaining its colouring and gilding. By this time 
the Salisbury party had happily joined us, and an adjourn¬ 
ment to the Downs was speedily effected, where prepara¬ 
tions were made to diversify the interest of the party by 
the examination of a barrow. That chosen. No. 11, was 
situated in the same plain as that already described as 
No. 1 ; but about half or three quarters of a mile more 
to the south, and at the foot of the range of the Haepen 
Hill. This barrow was, although small in size, of the 
more elevated character, and of the second period; it 
afforded, in the course of excavation, pieces of charcoal, 
teeth, and fragments of bones and pottery ; and at about 
3 feet the workmen came to the top of a cist, formed as 


AND EARTHWORKS NEAR SILBURY. 


^27 


others in the chalk, and filled with burnt human bones. 
In the middle of these was the leg-bone of some small 
animal formed into a sort of pin, very pointed at the one 
end, and at the other retaining the form of the joint; it 
bore a high polish (M). Immediately above, on the brow 
of the hill, was No. 12, a double barrow^ which some of 
the men pronounced to be very promising, as it always 
sounded hollow as they passed over it; it did not, how¬ 
ever, fall to our lot, unfortunately, to hit upon the right 
place. The usual sort of fragments were not wanting; but 
I strongly suspect that Dr. Stukeley or Sir Kichard Colt 
Hoare, (in whose presence the first barrow I ever saw 
opened produced a beautiful early British vase,) could 
have given some account of this; and hence the hollow 
sound. I must not omit to record that on this day we 
dined — i,e. the small party—at Avebury House, in the 
refectory of a Benedictine Priory, to meet the owner of Sil- 
bury Plill, Mr. Jones, and his young sons: to his tenant, 
Mr. Kemm, and his mother, our hostess this day, we are 
indebted for their kindness. 

Aug. —The next day was to witness the assem¬ 

blage of the neighbourhood to inspect Silbury; and this 
very picturesque event I have already described in the 
former paper. Our party occupied the morning, till the 
time of repairing to Silbury, in visiting the barrows lying 
near Beckhampton, between the Caine and Devizes roads. 
In some of these, very curious urns and remains had been 
discovered, some of which I shall describe hereafter; but 
most appeared to have been disturbed. One high up on the 
hill in the northern direction was examined, but without 
success. It would be an indication of ungrateful disrespect 
—for it could not he forgetfulness —were I to omit, though 
briefly, to record the employment of the evening of this 
day, and the route we took ; albeit it were w^ell to start 
somewhat earlier than we did, specially if so splendid a 
moon as conducted us home might not be reckoned upon. 
But then, as we had been very fully occuiued during the 
day, some regard was needful to he had toward such dis¬ 
coveries as we might be able to make at the Archaeological 
Hotel, calculated to recruit our exhausted strength, which 
being satisfactorily accomplished, we proceeded with a very 
docile pair of horses and driver, both desiderata in such 



28 


EXAMINATION OF BAUROWS 


an expedition, first to Oldbury Castle, a splendid position, 
overlooking the rich vale of Caine, Chippenham, Christian 
Malford, and Malmsbury, and bearing in its entrench¬ 
ments the characteristics of Koman occupation, enlarged 
possibly at some time on the south-west side, but very pos¬ 
sibly having been previously a British position, and even 
subsequently occupied by later warriors. I possess an iron 
spear-head, and one of those curious circular stones with a 
hole in the centre, found here. Thence we cut across the 
down towards the Roman road, the Via Badonica leading 
from Cunetio to Aqme-solis, and which, on arriving at Sil- 
bury Hill, which it would otherwise have cut at one-third of 
its base, deflects its course. We cannot boast that any of 
the dii deceque mhiores^ much less Diana herself, Bivia, 
Trivia, or whatever she might here have been called of old, 
were very propitious to us ; though, in truth, she made ample 
amende by her bright guidance, when it was subsequently 
so much needed. The devotees of Ceres had strangely cut 
up this ancient road ; so that, to traverse it with its full 
complement was not so easy a matter, either to the wheels 
of our vehicle, to the poor animals who had to draw it, or, 
indeed, to its occupants; to say nothing of the conductor. 
So that we traced the ancient way on foot, and were ready, 
not unneeded, to replace in its vertical position our totter¬ 
ing and almost subverted equipage, at a spot where the 
descent to Calston below would have been facile enough 
per saltiim, or 'per voliitationem, for the road in this part 
runs on the very edge of the abrupt and steep precipice of 
the hill. After some time spent in these corrective and 
directive pursuits, having fairly landed the really patient 
driver on the turf, to seek in advance the summit of the 
hill, we again became viatores in the strict sense of the 
word, and in its cognate road, until we reached its junc¬ 
tion with the famous Wansdyke, the high vallum of 
which, in most places from 30 to 40 ft. high, is here and 
for a considerable distance cut down to fill up the foss and 
form the road. From this point our explorations were 
by moonlight, bright as day; we had every reason to be 
grateful for the propitious aid ; by it we traced the some¬ 
what sinuous range of the Wansdyke; I marked, after 
thirty years’ absence, a barrow almost on its bank, which 
I had meis man thus excavated some 7 or 8 ft. in depth, 


AND KARTllWOllKS NEAR SILBURY. ^9 

finding one solitary glass bead (N), which I still possess. 
The AVansdyke, ere it makes its turn to the right by 
Shepherd’s shore, forms, without any apparent reason, two 
right angles ; and its trench at this point is very deep, 
and its vallum marvellously high and steep. From hence 
we were reluctantly obliged, having succeeded in finding 
our equipage, to return towards Silbury. Some of our 
party (and one was a lady, precious as an Archmologist and 
deserving of all our consideration, as well as her excellent 
brother) had to return the same night to Marlborough. 
The plain over which we travelled possesses some earth¬ 
works worthy of inspection, especially one enclosing, with 
an approaching avenue to it, some curious barrows. To¬ 
wards the right Wansdyke boldly ascends the downs to 
Tan Hill; some say St. Ann’s, others the Hill of Tanaris. 
The whole of this range is replete with exceeding interest, 
and Madlv should I be the conductor once more of the 

O •/ ^ 

whole Archseological Institute amidst its varied treasures. 

Aug. 'Id ,—By the permission of Mr. George Brown, 
the scene of our operations this day was Windmill Hill, 
a large conical eminence rising from the lower ground, 
on which, on the south-east, stands Avebury, on the 
north-east Monkton, and on the west Yatesbury. Of 
Monkton I may take leave to mention, that it possessed, 
not many years ago, a fine cromlech, now totally gone ; and 
also a long barrow, much resembling the three I shall pre¬ 
sently describe. This has been levelled. I saw the man 
who was employed in the profanation. It contained, he 
said, “ a sort of room built up wi’ big sarsens put together 
like, as well as a mason could set them; in the room was 
a sight of black stuff, and it did smill nation bad.” The 
name by which this was known was King’s Mill Barrow. 
Of Yatesbury we shall have to say somewhat anon. 

The apex of Windmill Hill is surrounded by a slight 
and single foss, in diameter — for it is almost an exact 

circle_about 150 yards. Within this, at the south-east, 

are two large harrows; one has evidently been reduced 
for agricultural purposes ; and I have since learned that in 
it were found seven skeletons, and a very beautiful little 
grape urn, according to Sir Kichard Colt Hoare’s nomen- 
clature, which I have seen, and of which 1 hope to supply 
a sketch. The skeletons were deposited in the side of 



^0 EXAMINATION OF BARROWS 

another barrow, but which I could not learn. Now it is 
on record, that both Dr. Stukeley and Sir Richard opened 
barrows on this hill ; one or two confess to this; but there 
are several toward Avebury, on the slope- of the hill, which 
the plough has worn down, and of these it is of course 
impossible to judge with any certainty ; but several such 
there are, which look very inviting. We w^ere singularly 
favoured. Three on the east side of the hill were each 
productive of very interesting remains, one in particular. 
Commencing with the lowest on the hill’s side, we will 
declare the result. 

No. 13, of very trifling elevation compared with the 
depth at which the cist was found—3 feet. Many frag¬ 
ments of early pottery, teeth of red deer and ox, a bead (O) 
of jet or Kimmeridge coal, and nine very smooth gravel 
pebbles, probably for slinging. The cist, filled with burnt 
human bones, but without an urn, was 3 ft. 6 in. long by 
^ ft. wide, and 2 ft. deep. 

No. 14. This barrow was about eleven paces from the 
rise at the bottom of the trench, which is much deeper 
than usual, and the mound surrounding the whole is also 
considerably raised ; from out to out of the rise, 30 paces. 
At 14 inches deep were the fragments of a small plain urn 
(P), containing the unhiirnt hones of a child. At some¬ 
thing under 3 feet was a skeleton of an adult in the 
crouched position (Q), without any urn. It was very re¬ 
markable, that although the bones were by no means in 
such a decayed or unsound state as to lead to the inference 
that parts were destroyed from local causes, there were no 
vestiges of the bones of the left wrist and hand. 

No. 15. This was a much larger and more elevated bar- 
row, of the bowl shape, of about 3 feet in its elevation. It 
is not improbable that this had been before examined. We 
met with no regular cist or deposit, but fragments of rude 
pottery were plentiful; part of the bones of a human skull 
of remarkable thickness and development of the internal 
processes, two incisores teeth of a dog or fox, one tusk of 
a boar, and other teeth and bones in great variety; but 
in particular, a very beautiful and admirably chipped flint 
arrow-head (R). Plaving completed our investigation of 
these three barrows, we were invited by my good friend 
and a zealous Archmologist, Mr. Money Kyrle, the rector 


AND EARTllWOURS NEAR SILRURY. 


31 


of Yatesbury, to proceed to his parish, where there were 
several barrows, said to be intact as yet. Whilst we were 
inspecting the Church, which, like Avebury, has of later 
times been converted in style to late decorated or perpen¬ 
dicular, but in which the south wall contains the piers 
and main arches of a Norman church, and the north aisle, 
at its west end, a very remarkable early English triplet 
window of very small size, and a very elegant and unique 
early English font, — the men were sent to commence ope¬ 
rations on two mounds of large dimensions, but, judging 
from the irregularities of ground about them, of somewhat 
dubious character. In the mean time our attention was 
directed to the general and marked unevenness of surface 
in the fields of this parish—some of a peculiar character, 
as in one instance the appearance of a well in the centre of 
a considerable area formed by a mound of earth, in Cow 
Leaze—some at a part of the village called Town’s-End— 
some near the house of Mr. Tenner—trenches more or less 
deep and important, with mounds in correspondence. It is 
not impossible that a detachment of forces, in their march 
previous to the battle of Eoundaway Hill, near Devizes, may 
have halted here, and thrown up a hasty earthwork for their 
defence during the night, although the general unevenness 
in question cannot thus be accounted for. Let me here men¬ 
tion a little incident, which may possibly be useful in a si¬ 
milar way to future Archmologists. On seeing a blacksmith’s 
shop near, I remarked that such an establishment should 
never be passed without a regard to the old iron and brass 
stores. On asking the principal Cyclops, (though I should 
beg his pardon, for he was father of the parish-clerk, one 
of our most strenuous coadjutors,) whether he ever had old 
spear-heads or such things brought to him with the old 
iron, he immediately admitted that he had many times, 
and thought he had somewhere one at that time, which, 
after a little search, was produced. It is of good work¬ 
manship, of the long four-sided shape. His son, hearing 
what was sought for, said there was another about the 
house, but it could not be found. 

No. l6. This mound, situated near the house of Mr. 
Tuckey, to whom, as well as to his family, especially his 
eldest son, I am much indebted for repeated attention 
and assistance, did not produce any indications of former 



3^2 


EXAMINATIOJf OF BARROWS 


sepulture, except fragments of charcoal, and something 
like the oxidation of iron. It was composed of a close 
clayey soil, very different from the material of the barrows 
on the hills, as were all the four which we examined here; 
and this circumstance greatly added to the labour and 
time necessary for the investigation. We therefore pro¬ 
ceeded to the second mound,—I so call them, because I 
much doubt if thev were barrows. Here, from its size, and 
the top being crowned by a clump of fir-trees, the attack 
was made from the side by way of trench. Many bones, 
of the ox probably, and smaller animals, the hare in parti¬ 
cular, one or two pieces of corroded iron, and a part of the 
wards of a key (S) were found; but no sepulchral deposit, 
although the trench was carried into the centre. 

—No. 17. Having obtained permission of the pro¬ 
prietor, Mr. Tenner, — who, notwithstanding a growing 
crop of beans, liberally sacrificed those which were likely 
to be in our way,—we proceeded at as early an hour as 
our party could reach the spot, to examine two barrows 
situated towards the eastern extremity of the parish, viz. 
in “ Barrow Field,” and with anticipations the most en¬ 
couraging, as they were distinguished by traditions which 
ranked them highly in the estimation of the inhabitants.* 
They had been at least 20 ft. high ; their bases were still 
of an extent to admit of such a proportionate height. Henry 
Shergold, the man who had been employed to lower them, 
being fortunately within reach, was sent for, and gave us 
the following account as to the first of the two which we 
examined, being that towards Avebury. He said, “ He 
had cut it down a matter of 9 ft., throwing the earth on 
the sides, sixteen years ago. There was a little box of 
metal 3 inches long; it had a lid at one end, and a chain 
fixed in the middle, and it had been fastened to the end 
where it opened; it was round. About a yard deep, there 
were three beads (terra cotta, one was produced), as big 
as his finger round ; a knife fit to stick a pig, and two 
skeletons lying at full length.” At a depth of 8 ft. in 
this barrow, we came to a large quantity of very black 
substance, like charcoal, or rather burnt straw ; numerous 


* A few hundred yards to the south¬ 
east of these barrows, in a field called 
Foxbury, the termination of which word 
would denote the existence of some earth¬ 


work which has disappeared before the 
plough, various Koman coins, from Trajan 
to Valens, have recently been found. 



AND EARTHWORKS NEAR SILBURY. S3 

bits of bone of the various kinds, fragments of pottery, &c., 
and a large cist containing a considerable quantity of burnt 
human bones. The closeness of the soil of which these 
barrows were formed, and the depth to which we had to 
descend, occupied more than usually our time, and the even¬ 
ing was far spent before we had reached such a depth in 
the other barrow (No. 18) as to satisfy our curiosity ; but 
the next day, on which we did not proceed to visit Yates- 
bury, in consequence of the lamented departure of my kind 
and valued companions, the men, under the superintend¬ 
ence of Mr. Money Kyrle, came to a layer of the black 
substance, burnt straw apparently, and below that to a 
most curious deposit, a cist, at the depth of 8 ft., formed 
at the level of the adjoining land, containing an unusual 
quantity of burnt human bones. These had been deposited 
in the hollow of a tree, and a piece of the cleft wood, the 
side of the tree, had been placed over it. From the pecu¬ 
liar clayey and damp quality of the earth, it was so greatly 
decayed, that it might be difficult to determine its former 
substance, although it appeared by the remains of fibres, 
and lines of the grain of the wood, to have been oak ; the 
wood w^as 4 ft. long by broad and 18 inches thick, being 
reduced in places by compression. About the middle of 
this, on the apex of the mass of bones, and beneath the 
wooden cover, lay a bronze blade of a hunting-spear (T) ; 
the two rivets which had fixed it to its staff remained in 
their respective holes, but the metal, from the extreme 
moisture of the situation, had become oxidised through¬ 
out, and when dried extremely brittle and friable; it was 
inches in length, and 1^ inch in breadth at the broadest 
part. 

Saturday, the 4th of August, was in the morning chiefly 
devoted to Silbury; and it was arranged that I should be 
left in charge, as the examination of the centre was every 
hour becoming more and more critical and interesting. 
After due consultation respecting Silbury, our steps were 
directed to a singularly interesting object, described as an 
Archdruid’s barrow, lying three quarters of a mile south¬ 
east of Silbury Hill. This appellation I suppose has been 
adopted from Stukeley; it ranges about east and west, and 
is at least 150 ft. long, higher and broader at the east end, 
where it is 30 ft., than at the west. It had evidently been 

D 


EXAMINATION OF BARROWS 


cut through on the ridge in several places, but not impro- 
bahly, in most instances, merely for agricultural purposes. 
At the east end were lying, in a dislodged condition, at least 
30 sarsen stones, in which might clearly be traced the 
chamber formed by the side uprights and large transom 
stones, and the similar but lower and smaller passage lead¬ 
ing to it; and below, round the base of the east end, w^ere 
to be seen the portion of the circle or semicircle of stones 
boundinty it. There are two other barrows of this kind in 

o 

the neighbourhood, which I may mention in this place ; 
the one about three-quarters of a mile south-east of that 
just described, which is of much the same character as to 
shape and dimensions, but differs in construction. I was 
induced to visit this in consequence of having been in¬ 
formed by the occupier of the surrounding land, that he 
had caused a hole to be dug at the east end for the pur¬ 
pose of obtaining flints; but that he soon found that it was 
made up of round and generally flat sarsen stones, which 
came tumbling so about the men that they gave up the 
work. It has unfortunately been planted over, as have many 
of the larger barrows on Hacpen Hill; I think in bad 
taste. The other is situated on Alton Down, south of Wans- 
dyke: all these range in the same bearing, south-east by 
north-west. It is 130 ft. long by 30 high. This is still 
covered with turf, and has been opened about half-way along 
the ridge, but not effectually. It is remarkable for hav¬ 
ing, about half-way down the slope of the east end, a sarsen 
stone ; another at the base in the centre. On the south 
side, in the trench formed by raising the mound, is a very 
curious earthwork, in form an oval, with a mound about 
^ ft. high round it, and a sarsen stone in the centre ; the 
whole about 40 feet long by 15 broad. In advance of the 
barrow eastward, and at its very base, is another earth¬ 
work, of similar height as to its mound, in a line at right 
angles with the central line, about 30 ft. long, with a re¬ 
turn of 10 ft. on either side. These two curious objects I 
visited at so late a period of my Wiltshire sojourn, that 
I could not indulge in the gratification of examining them. 
It is a satisfaction to mention these three, in the hope that 
it may lead to the disclosure of their interesting contents 
at some future day. 

The time had now arrived for the breaking up of our 


AND EARTHWORKS NEAR SILRURY. 


35 


^^PPy P^^^y ? I think I may say with certainty, that 
there was not one to whom the well-known words of the 
Grecian bard might not be applied— 

TO S’ a')(OQ Ol,v Kara cppeva tvxLe (Sadeiav. 

What could I, the lone and deserted, do, hut seek those 
wilds and desolate hills where not a human footstep would 
cross my path, and betake myself to regions so emblematic, 
and congenial to my solitary state ? It had been repeatedly 
asserted that most of the curious relics which had acci¬ 
dently been discovered, were found on the hills south of 
Beckhampton and Kennett, and some of these I shall hope 
to be able to figure and describe. On this doleful eveninof, 
then, I strolled in that direction, purposing after such a 
reconnoitre to devote a day to the examination of such 
barrows as might appear promising. For the present, I shall 
confine myself to the mere allusion to some very remark¬ 
able earthworks which met my view, and shall reserve the 
description of them and the barrows in this district for the 
subsequent day, on which they were opened. 

jt/i ,—The next investigation which occupied my at¬ 
tention was on Minnow Down, at the summit of a rising 
ground near “ the Pennings,’^ very possibly an ancient 
meadow for cattle, belonging to Mr. Brown, at the edge of 
which is a very large barrow, which has from time to time 
been reduced for agricultural purposes, and produced seve¬ 
ral curious British remains. 

No. 19 . This very small and slightly elevated barrow, 
without a trench, had attracted my observation on my w^ay 
to examine more accurately the remains of the tree in the 
Yatesbury barrow; its appearance and isolated situation 
seemed to bespeak success. It was not, however, of the 
class to which, on an outward view, it would have been 
assigned. Near the centre, and at about the level of the 
surrounding down, was a shallow cist, containing black earth 
and a very few burnt bones. Near the top were two small 
pieces of good Samian ware. The Eoman road runs at no 
great distance to the south. There were but few pieces of 
pottery of the British or Komano-British character, a few 
broken bones of animals, and parts of the jaw of a red 
deer. The weather on this day was very unfavourable; 
and at night,—much to the satisfaction, I have no doubt, 



EXAMINATION OF BARROWS 


Si) 

of the rustics, whose notions respecting the examination of 
Silbury and the opening of the barrows were not divested 
of superstitious dread,—one of the most grand and tre¬ 
mendous thunder-storms I ever recollect to have witnessed, 
made the hills re-echo to the crashing peals, and Silbury 
itself, as the men asserted who were working in its centre, 
to tremble to its base,—although they could not see the 
flashes of violet-coloured lightning which lit up the broad 
expanse of hills, and defined their outline in their most 
distant range. 

The next morning broke in calmness and brightness, 
and was devoted to my explorations on the southern side of 
the river Kennett, and under the line of Wansdvke, which 
runs at this point nearly parallel to it. In the four bar- 
rows (Nos. 20, 2J, 22, 23) which were opened in this 
direction, nothing worthy of particular notice was found. 
Apparently their situations, single and of low dimensions, 
led to the supposition that they were of early date, and 
would produce interesting evidence of their class. Two of 
them contained cists, with burnt bones, fragments of rude 
unbaked pottery, and bones of animals. Whether their 
contiguity to the boundary of another and more powerful 
race may account for the poverty of these burial-places and 
their tenants when living, I pretend not to say; but there 
are other features in this immediate district which do not 
accord altogether with such a supposition—1 mean, their 
earthworks, which are here well worthv of note, and to 
which I have alreadv alluded. 

It is difficult to describe such remains without the aid 
of diagrams, and 1 must therefore refer to such as I can 
supply as we proceed. 

I. Is an irregular parallelogram, containing three or 
four compartments, lying on the side of the hill gentlv 
sloping downwards towards the north. The south side is 
bounded by a well-defined mound, with a slight trench, 
about 100 feet in length. About half-way, running at 
right angles, is a mound which expands into an irregular 
heap of earth of some height, and joined at its southern 
extremity, at about 40 feet, by another mound at right 
angles with the first. On the west side are some irregular 
entrenchments, with a circular mound at the corner, af¬ 
fording apparently the entrance to this enclosure. On the 




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AND EARTHWORKS NEAR SILBURY. 


37 


east side the mound runs, for about 100 feet, in a line at 
right angles with the south, and is there curved, till it 
becomes parallel to the south boundary, for about 40 feet, 
when it forms again a right angle northward with another 
curve, and continuation of the parallel line to the south 
boundary, till it reaches the angle of the eastern mound. 
At the corner formed by the intersection of the south and 
west mounds was a conical mound, in which were three 
large sarsen stones; these were removed, and the earth 
below excavated, which was of dark colour and extending 
deeper than usual, but nothing was contained in it except 
a few fragments of bones of the ox or deer. In the com¬ 
partment adjacent to these was a circular conical hole 10 
feet in diameter, 5 or 6 deep. Diagonally, in the next 
compartment, were ranged three barrows; that towards 
the north-west contained nothing excepting a few small 
bits of pottery, charcoal, and bones. The next much the 
same. The third, which was of large dimensions, had 
been excavated at the apex to some depth; and concluding 
that this had been done by an antiquary, I did not deem it 
prudent to interfere with his work. I had, however, the 
mortification to learn in the evening, from a shepherd- 
boy, “ that his father had dug that ’un out for shelter.” 
To all appearance he must have gone deep enough to have 
disturbed any deposit that might have been there. 

II. Is higher up on the next hill (the slope of Tan 
Hill), and a short distance below Wansdyke. It is a 
square enclosure, ^00 feet each side, formed by a mound 
of earth, 4 feet high, and having a circular mound (as a 
barrow) at each corner. On the south side there was an 
entrance equidistant from each corner; and on the east 
side part of the mound has been cut away. 

III. At about a mile and a half south of Kennett is 
another singular earthwork. It is formed by a mound 
of earth about 3 feet high, and about 200 feet long by 40 
broad. This runs across the valley where it is situated, 
and rises on one side half as high again as on the other. 
At about one-third of the distance from the upper end is 
an oval enclosure, having a mound of slight elevation round 
it, the area being slightly convex. 

IV. At a short distance from the former, on .a neigh¬ 
bouring hill, is another earthwork of very remarkable cha- 


88 


EXAMINATION OF BARROWS 


racter. It stands south from Silbury Hill, distant about 
a mile on the west side of the old Andover road, evidently 
a British trackway. From its north-east extremity, D, a 
vallum extends about half a mile along the ridge of the 
down, which has been rendered more precipitous to form 
the same. It points towards Silbury, and seems to connect 
that mound with the earthwork. On the south and east 
sides the fosse bounding the earthwork follows the natural 
curve of the hill; on the west side, where it is straight and 
runs up the hill, the vallum gradually diminishes in height. 
The peculiar formation of the north side, the entrance at 
the north-west angle, and the curious detached and square 
enclosure, will be best understood from the ground-plan. 

Y. The next is not in this district, nor on the same 
side of the Kennett, but may as w^ell be mentioned with 
others of a similar character. It is situated at the foot of 
a portion of the Hacpen Hill, in a cwm which it forms to 
the south of the Avebury Down. It is formed by straight 
lines of mounds, at right angles, ^ feet high, 100 paces 
long on the south side, and about 80 broad. Parallel with 
the eastern side, at about a third of the area, is another 
mound and trench running from the north side to within 
10 feet of the south mound, where it returns at right 
angles for about 40 paces, where it again turns at right 
angles towards the north for ^0 paces, where it meets at 
right angles a similar mound ranging from the west side to 
that described as running parallel with the eastern boundary; 
parallel with this, for about 80 paces and at 8 distant, is 
another mound extended so as to form the entrance. Imme¬ 
diately above, i, e, to the south of this, the interior com¬ 
partment is excavated to some depth; and above it and 
beyond the exterior mound is a recess cut in the slope of 
the hill, returned at each end, with a mound towards the 
south about 80 paces long. These embankments were 
opened in several spots, but nothing found to indicate that 
palisades had been raised on them. 

Before I leave the southern district, I must record, for 
the guidance of brother Archaeologists, the existence on 
this side of the Kennett, as well as on the north, of mil¬ 
lions of sarsen stones scattered in the valleys, and in some 
instances indicating arrangement in their disposition; thus 
in a valley running from Tan Hill south-west and north- 


AND EARTHWORKS NEAR SILBURY. 


39 


east there are rows of large stones standing up unusually 
3 or 4 feet out of the ground, and of large dimensions. 
A little more to the south in the same valley is the evi¬ 
dent remnant of a kistvaen; the larger chamber trace¬ 
able, as well as the passage once leading into it. And 
again, on the top of the hill to the south-east is another 
evidently of the same kind. These, from hollows formed 
by their peculiar construction, present a well-known asylum 
for coursed hares ; and if inquired for as the Hares’ Holes, 
any of the neighbouring rustics would doubtless afford un¬ 
erring direction to them. 

loth —Return we now to our former ground, where 
our examinations were concluded in the following days 
with singular success. It. had been thought that some of 
the barrows on Windmill Hill which the plough had worn 
down might be worth examination, and two not having 
crops upon them were tried, but without producing any 
thing more than bones of animals, fragments of pottery and 
burnt wood; the second, burnt wood in considerable quan¬ 
tity. I therefore resolved to pass on to the Avebury Down, 
where we had left two of the range of five unexplored, and 
these were the next operated upon, as we have already re¬ 
ported of Nos. 2 and 3. Whilst the excavation of these 
was in its early progress, I had directed my eye to the 
more distant range of the hill on the north-east; and near 
the foot of it, on Monkton Down, attention was soon ar¬ 
rested by very remarkable and unquestionable indications 
of British occupation. Commencing from the cultivated 
land at the foot of the hill, we observed, in a central posi¬ 
tion, a somewhat long mound of considerable elevation. 
On the right and left of this, at some ten paces each way, 
were two lower circular but not regular mounds. Above 
the long mound, with 6 or 8 feet intervening, was a large 
mound of an oval form, the upper portion being the small¬ 
est part, and on the top of this were three large sarsen 
stones. Above this, at some 50 yards and at considerable 
elevation, the hill had been formed into a flat cone (a road 
passing on two sides), with a single trench and slight mound 
surrounding it, in diameter ^25 feet. Towards the centre 
of this were disposed four sarsen stones of considerable 
size. At the verge of the lowest long mound, towards the 
north-west, were eight sarsen stones of about ^2 feet square 


40 


EXAMINATION OE BARROWS 


above the ground, forming the segment of a circle, the two 
horns of which were lost in the mound, and these had been 
brought to light by the cultivation of the land below. At 
the same level, about 8 feet within the mound, was a large 
flat sarsen placed on its edge, and forming with tw'o others 
part of an interior circle, or segment. At the verge of the 
oval mound above, and cutting its range, were, on the south 
side, five large sarsen stones, and on the opposite or northern 
side one, evidently the remains of a larger circle of stones, 
containing, but not concentrically, those already noticed. 
This curious arrangement must be explained with the aid 
of a ground-plan. 

No. 24 a. In the small mound on the north side were 
teeth of deer, oxen, and bones, small fragments of charred 
wood, and a small sarsen stone partially rubbed. 

No. 25 In the opposite mound were similar remains, 
and in very considerable quantities; and in this was a sar¬ 
sen (U) 3 inches in diameter rubbed down to a cylindrical 
form, and the front teeth of an ox. 

No. 26 7 - Five different openings had been made in this 
long mound, which were afterwards conjoined, and formed 
one continuous cutting throughout. At 7 was a large half 
of the os frontis of an ox, and some fragments of horns of 
deer, one small tip of an ox’s horn. 

Here, at about a foot from the surface, was found 
the head of apparently a greyhound (V), and close by the 
side a fragment of a small ampulla of Koman form, but 
somewhat coarse pottery; below was a flat sarsen (W) 
rounded at the edge and slightly convex. 

No. 27 s. In the repeated examinations made in the 
upper mound within the circle and under the sarsens, ox 
and deer’s bones and teeth, sarsens of considerable size, 
and boars’ tusks were found. The excavations both in this 
part and in the long mound had been very extensive, and 
it must be confessed had resulted in something like dis¬ 
appointment, from the promise their appearance had held 
out. To Mr. Hillier, the occupier of this district, and his 
lady, who regaled us and a large party with a substantial 
tea repast, we were indebted for a most agreeable and 
acceptable mode of consolation, and the grand success of 
our eflbrts is vet to be related in the contents of the oval 
mound. 



G-Belll86rieet July,1851. 


J.K JobbuiB 


































































AND EARTHWORKS NEAR SILBURY. 


41 


No. 28. On removing the three sarsen stones from the 
apex, about a foot deep, appeared the fragments of a small 
ornamental urn (X) of unbaked and very fragile clay, con¬ 
taining the skull-bones principally of a very voung person, 
the sutures not being joined or knit; near the top was a 
sarsen, rounded, and about 2 inches in diameter. The 
material of which this barrow was composed was chalk 
rubble, very coarse, and not mixed with other substances, 
as was generally the case, nor were there fragments of 
bones, or urns, or pottery, as observed in others. At the 
depth of 5 feet were (Y) the heads of two oxen laid side 
by side, and in very perfect condition, but very brittle on 
removal; from the pole to the nose-bone one measured 20 
inches, the other 19; from one orbit of the eye to the other 
9 inches ; in each the centre of the forehead had been frac¬ 
tured in a circular hole. Below these the same hollow 
character of the chalk continued, and the sides of the 
chamber, 6 feet in length by 4 feet in breadth, had been 
carefully cut in the natural chalk. The heads of the oxen 
were laid across the chamber north-east. At a depth of 5 
feet below these, and 10 feet from the top, was the skeleton 
of an adult (Z), in many parts much decayed, but in the 
crouched position, lying on the left side; behind the head 
was a small ornamented urn of unbaked clay {aa\ or at 
least only fire-baked, and not in a kiln ; the thigh-bone was 
19 inches in length; at the right foot was a small well- 
chipped flint arrow-head (bb^ and a flint spear-head (cc). 
A second also was subsequently found near the same spot 
(^dd)^ though not so well formed. 

The whole of this group of mounds presented a singu- 
larlv interesting^ character. I cannot sav that I should be 
fully satisfied that we had exhausted the stores of the long 
and two lateral mounds, unless the range of sarsens could 
have been fully developed, and the natural chalk as above 
pertinaciously pierced; although, at the time, it seemed to 
Mr. Money Kyrle, as well as to myself, that we had ex¬ 
hausted every hope. 

No. 29 . On the brow of the hill towards the east from 
this spot, and overlooking one of those surprising valleys 
of stones, in which might he traced long lines of sarsens 
arranged for some special purpose, whilst others are hud¬ 
dled too’ether as if they had fallen in such a confused heap. 


EXAMINATION OF BARROWS 




is a circle, 16 feet in diameter (ee)^ of sarsen stones, of 
which seven only now remain, although the dips in the earth 
shew where the others have been. In the centre of these 
are five.of the same character and size, surrounding one 
lying flat and impacted between them. The first thing 
which shewed itself on raising this central stone was a 
fragment of red Samian pottery ; it is true it might have 
slipped down between the stones at a date long subsequent 
to the formation of these circles ; it is certain that it was of 
a very different character from the other rude but curious 
relics below. These consisted of numerous fragments of 
the rudest and thickest kind of pottery, with bones of the 
deer or ox, bits of charcoal, and some portions of a yel¬ 
lowish-tinged ochre-looking substance; but lower down, 
and near the natural layer of the chalk, were numerous 
pieces of flint of about li inch across, evidently chip¬ 
ped into form, as if to he held in the hand or fastened 
to some handle. There were also many small pieces of 
flint, apparently chipped on purpose into thin laminae, in¬ 
tended perhaps for arrow-heads, and either never finished 
or possibly spoilt in the difficult and tedious manipulation. 

144h .—One day only remained to me for these interest¬ 
ing pursuits. The barrow described as No. 9 w'as one of 
this day’s investigation ; another was contained within the 
range of a circle of stones (gg) of about 9 feet in diameter, 
of which eight stones (No. 80) only remained, but hollows 
in the turf indicated the positions which four others had 
occupied, and they were known to have been removed for 
building purposes. A large quantity of fragments of rude 
pottery, of bones of animals, bits of charcoal, teeth of deer, 
oxen, and swine, were all that this produced; and it is not 
improbable that it had been before explored, being a short 
distance on the north of the five barrows on the Avebury 
Down. On the summit of the hill, overlooking towards 
the south-east the Cromlech at Clatford, towards the east 
Temple Down, and the south-west and west the Hacpen 
range, studded with an immense number of very large sar¬ 
sen stones, many of which indicated arrangement of lines 
and segments of circles, there are two spots which, in par¬ 
ticular, challenge attention. The one from the congeries 
of verij large stones lying on and about each other, as if 
they had so fallen from some different and probably more 


AND EARTHWOUKS NEAR SILBURY. • 43 

elevated position; the other from its conical formation of 
earth and most commanding position, and being surrounded 
with sarsen stones in circular arrangement. This was 
opened to some depth, but time did not then suffice to 
descend so far as to reach the maiden soil or chalk, or to 
satisfy us that nothing more was to be obtained but the 
circular and flat sarsen stones of about a foot diameter, not 
broken, but worn like pebbles, which abounded, together 
with the fragments of charcoal, bones, pottery, and teeth. 

No. 31. Returning towards the north-west, a small flat 
barrow {hli) without a trench was the object of our curiosity, 
which, although it was situated on the very side of a road, 
did not disappoint us. At a depth of 18 inches we came 
to flve thin sarsen stones of a foot or 16 inches broad or 
long, set upon their edges, and within them four other 
stones of the same kind, but larger and naturally rounded, 
by which an urn containing burnt human bones was packed. 
In the centre of this cist, 2 feet 2 by 10 inches, the urn, as 
well as the stones, had been placed on a flat stone below— 
the former with its mouth downwards ; it was of rude for¬ 
mation, of the character of that found in No. 4, and about 
the same shape; the upper part, 10 inches in diameter, 
above the rim being cross-etched. Nearly all below the 
rim, from its proximity to the surface, had long since been 
crushed and reduced to earth. 


“Hie labor extremus, longarum hsec meta viarum.” 

It is no afiectation to say that I left on the following 
day this peculiar but most interesting neighbourhood with 
great regret, and not least of all those very many and kind 
friends to whom I was so much indebted for the facilities 
of exploring the barrows, and who favoured me with so 
many marks of their consideration and most thoughtful 
kindness. They are too many to specify by name; but I 
trust I may be allowed to assure them all that the recol¬ 
lection of them and the pleasure they studied to afford me 
will never cease to command my most grateful and plea¬ 
surable appreciation. 


J. M. 



ANTIQUITIES FOUND NEAR AVEBURY. 


The following Sketches represent interesting Objects of Antiquity 
found in the neighbourhood of Avebury, which for the most part 
are still retained and highly prized by those on whose property 
they were discovered. 

No. 1 . A well-burnt urn of thin red pottery, found in 
a barrow on the south of Beckhampton, towards Tan Hill, 
at the head of a skeleton lying at full length ; round it 
were nail-heads, as if of a coffin; a few feet from this was 
a smaller skeleton doubled up. Height of the urn 44 
inches, diameter (largest) inches. 

2 . Small urn, 44 inches in diameter, and *2 inches 
high, found in a barrow to the south-east of Kennett, round 
which were twelve skeletons ranged with their feet towards 
the centre, in which the urn was placed. 

3 and 4. Found in a barrow on Windmill Hill, with 
seven skeletons. Diameter of urn 4 inches, length of stone 
hammer 5 inches. 

5. This urn, remarkable for its unique pattern of orna¬ 
ment, and proportions, being much broader and flatter than 
usual, and in diameter at the base no less than 5 inches, 
whilst it is only 6 i high, was found by workmen employed 
to obtain materials for husbandry purposes, from a barrow 
about a mile from Beckhampton, on the right-hand side of 
the Devizes road, containing burnt bones. When brought 
home it was nearly perfect; but having been placed at the 
front door, a beggar, whose importunities were not listened 
to, broke it with his stick. 

6 . A small unornamented urn of unburnt bluish clav, 
was found in a barrow about a quarter of a mile to the 
north of the former. Its diameter is 4 inches, its 
height 24. 

7 . A small plain urn, found in the same barrow, and 
of similar material. Near it was the skull of a very young 
person. It is very remarkable, that where the bones of 




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ANTIQUITIES FOUND NEAR AVEBURY. 


45 


youDg persons are found, this form of urn is usually oh- 
served. Its diameter is 4i inches, its height 7 inches. In 
cases where such remains have been accidentally found by 
labourers, it is difficult to ascertain the exact position and 
accompaniments. It has been my object to give, as accu¬ 
rately as possible, the account which I received. 

8. An urn of brown unbaked clay, of similar form and 
dimensions with the last, but with somewhat more orna- ■ 
ment, found about a mile and a half west of the former, in 

a barrow, about 2 feet from the knees of the skeleton figure 
at No. 16, and not more than 18 inches below the surface 
of the turf. 

9. An urn, 7 inches high by in diameter, found in 
digging clay for a ])ond, near Eoundaway Down, without 
any irregularity of the ground, but near a skeleton, whose 
position could not be ascertained, having been carelessly 
disturbed by the workmen. 

10. A beautiful and perfect urn, 61 inches high by 

in diameter, of unburnt clav, found at the head of a skele- 
ton in a crouched posture, and in an oval cist formed in the 
chalk, and covered with the same finely powdered. This 
is introduced as being the first of the kind I ever saw, and 
as having been discovered in the presence of Sir Eichard 
Colt Hoare. Its locality was near the Beckhampton and 
Devizes road, a few yards only from Wansdyke and Shep¬ 
herd’s Shore, south-westward. 

11. Fragments of a very large unburnt urn, having the 
peculiarity of a handle; its diameter must have been at 
least 18 inches. It was found at the large oval barrow 
to the south of “ the Pen?imgs’* belonging to Mr. George 
Brown, above Beckhampton ; contained burnt bones and 
a piece of bronze (No. 23), probably a spear-head. This 
barrow has been on several occasions reduced for purposes 
of husbandry, and has generally produced such relics. It 
appears to have been used at different periods as a place of 
sepulture, and might yet repay further investigation. “ The 
Pennings” is a term at present applied, as the cursory 
observer would suppose, to a farm-yard and fold near at 
hand; but the phrase belongs to a disused enclosure ad¬ 
joining, of a double square in form, and of some extent, 
surrounded by a slight ditch and mound, on which still 
o-row manv stunted whitethorn bushes. The term “ Pen- 

o » 


46 


ANTIQUITIES FOUND NEAR AVEBURY. 


Timgs.” is applied by the husbandmen to other similar en¬ 
closures and earthworks. 

12. An urn of usual dimensions, 7 inches high, found 
in a barrow of low elevation, a short distance south of a 
remarkable long barrow, already described as made up of 
circular and convex sarsen stones, to the south of Kennett, 
at the feet of a skeleton lying towards the w-est, and in a 
regularly-formed cist. 

13. A bronze spear-head, found with the above, 4 inches 
long. 

14. A stone hatchet of compact bluish stone, resembling 
lias, also in the same, five inches long. 

15. Posture of a skeleton found in Morgan’s Hill above 
Wansdyke, without any barrow or irregularity of the sur¬ 
face of the ground, 18 inches below the turf. 

16. Posture of a skeleton found with No. 8. 

17 . Iron spear-head, found in breaking up the down for 
cultivation, about a mile and a half to the right of the 
Beckhampton and Devizes road, taken at right angles 
to that road, about a mile from Beckhampton turnpike ; 
9 inches below the surface. 

18. A lock of iron, with two keys, found very near the 
last mentioned, in ploughing up the same land. 

19- Horseshoe found a short distance north-west of 
Silbury Hill, with other horseshoes, and a skeleton. 

20. Bronze spear-head found in digging flints in the 
down south-west of Beckhampton, with flack earth round 
it, but without any irregularity of ground. Full size of 
original, as are the following, to No. 33. 

21 and 22. Bone pins found in digging flints on the 
same down. 

23. Bronze spear-head found with No. 11. 

24. Bronze tweezers. 

25. Side and front view of a singular bronze leg, having 

a groove to make a joint at the knee, and riveted to either 
limb. These bronze articles were found very near the line 
of the Eoman road (Via Badonica). Could this be part 
of such a figure as we read of in Petronius ? “ Larvam 

argenteam attulit servus, sic aptatam ut articuli ejus ver- 
tebreeque laxatse in omnem partem verterentur,” &c., pp. 
115, 116 . 

26 . 27 , 28, 29 , 30. Bronze fibulae, &:c., all found in 


ANTIQUITIES FOUND NEAR AVEBURY. 


47 


the same immediate ueighbourliood, in digging flints on 
the down-lands. 

31. Portion of a gold torque found in digging flints 
on Allington down, near the highest point of the hills 
bounding the north side of Pewsey vale; size of the ori¬ 
ginal, weight oz. troy. The original is in the posses¬ 
sion of the Earl of Ilchester, who claimed it as treasure 
trove, being lord of the manor. 

3^. Iron spear-head found in digging rubble to make 
roads on the down, where there was no irregularity of sur¬ 
face, at Lower Upham, parish of Auburn. 

33. Stags’ horns: above the burr, circumference lOi 
inches, at the top 7L 

34. Above the burr 6 inches circumference ; length of 
tine 64 inches. 

35. Horn of a smaller animal, and more decayed, 84 
inches long. These were found on the neighbouring 
downs in digging flints. 

3G. Portions of gold ornaments found in a barrow on 
lioundaway down, near Devizes. The barrow in question 
was opened by the orders of the late proprietor, E. F. Col¬ 
ston, Esq., of Poundaway Park. It is a small one, situated 
in the apex of the down, which, although particularly men¬ 
tioned by Sir R. C. Hoare, escaped the examination of 
that able and indefatigable antiquary. The workmen 
having, at a depth of 7 feet, cut through an upper stratum 
of peculiarly fine dark mould, and reached the natural 
chalk level, came to a skeleton, much decayed, which 
had formerly been enclosed in a wooden chest, bound 
round and clamped together with strong iron plates or 
hoops. Several portions of this iron-work had fibres of 
the wood still adhering to them, and remained precisely 
as originally placed. The skeleton lay east and west, 
the head towards the latter point. At its feet, formed of 
about twenty triangular pieces of brass fastened together 
with rivets and two thin hoops of the same metal, lay 
a cap or helmet, which remained perfect a few minutes 
only, falling to pieces on the admission of air. Near the 
neck were several large oval garnets, among which was 
one, much larger than the rest, of a triangular shape. All 
were strongly set in gold. The ovals appeared to form, 
with intermediate beads made of twisted gold wire, a 


48 


ANTIQUITIES FOUND NEAR AVEBURY. 


necklace, from which the triangular stone hung as the 
central pendant. There were also (with several smaller 
articles) two pins of gold, fastened to one another by a 
gold chain, with a small medallion between them ; on 
one side of which is distinctly engraved the figure of the 
Cross. Unfortunately none of the parties most interested 
in the discovery were present at the exact time, and it is 
feared that they did not obtain all the remains, as it was 
heard that similar stones had subsequently been sold at 
Bath, which had been found on Roundaway down. The 
bones of four animals were also found in the corners, said 
to be of a dog and cat, a horse and a boar. A coin, small 
brass, of Crispus, was also found, proving the date of the 
interment. There is no other instance on record of a 
similar discovery belonging to the same period in this 
district. 

87 . A celt of brass, extremely perfect, and of metal 
remarkable for its dark colour, found at Ramsbury, Wilts, 
in digging peat. This, the first article of antiquity pos¬ 
sessed by the writer, was purchased for half-a-crown, when 

a schoolbov at Ramsburv. 

•/ 

38. A celt of flint, elaborately worked, and the greater 
part bearing a high polish, found in grubbing up a hedge¬ 
row on a bank in the parish of Stanton Fitz-Warren, Wilts. 
Both the size of the originals. 


THE END. 

m 


LONDON : 

T>RTNTKD by LEVEY, ROBSON, AND FRANKLYN, 
Great New Street, Fetter Lane. 




I 

1 










































